Rain, Rain
by Maximum Poofy
Summary: G-rated for now. AU for fourth year. Harry doesn't like the dynamic nature of his life but knows he has to except it. To get away from it, he stands in the rain . . .he becomes one with the rain. R&R please!
1. Rhythm Emotions

Rain, Rain . . .

Prologue: Rhythm Emotions.

The day was dreary and gave off a lazy sort of vibe that all of Hogwarts felt. It drizzled, falling from the deep gray clouds that were oddly comforting to young Harry Potter.

He stood stalk still in the middle of the Quidditch pitch, letting himself get soaked by the chilling rain as he watched the loaded clouds drift idly by. 

There wasn't any particular reason for him being out there. He wasn't wallowing in self-pity, he wasn't mourning lost friends, and he wasn't out there to fly. No, he was just there. Standing in the rain, watching the clouds. 

He sighed in content. The feel of rain against his flesh, even the sound of it soothed him. It was a steady rhythm in his wild and crazy symphony of a life. He loved it. He closed his eyes in content, still facing towards the cloudy heavens and reveled in the feel of rain, the smell of rain, the taste of rain. He loved rain. 

Harry let himself fall to the ground, spread-eagle, and not caring if his school uniform got all muddy. He was already soaked. He opened his eyes again to gaze at the clouds once more. An almost wistful smile fluttered across his lips ad he raised a pale, muddy hand towards the sky. He liked to imagine sometimes that he could touch the clouds. He would often lie in the soft grass on the grounds of the place he called home and pretend he could catch them. They were fluffy and soft and tickled the skin of his hand sometimes. When they shifted, he knew they were giggling, thinking, ' What a strange little boy you are, Harry Potter!' But he didn't mind at all. He rather enjoyed their laughter.

" What a strange little boy . . ." He murmured, letting his hand flop back to the ground. These clouds didn't giggle though. Maybe they were and he couldn't hear it because of the steady, drowning rhythm of the now pouring rain. He looked thoughtful for a moment, watching the clouds and sensing the rain. Then he decided he liked the rain better. It was steady and constant when it came, nothing at all like the clouds that took so many shapes. No . . .

" I wish I were the rain." He said, sounding like a child again and not a fourteen-year-old boy. " Then the only thing I'd have to worry about was which town I was going to drench." He said. Shortly afterwards he mentally berated himself for allowing himself to wallow. He didn't want to do that. He sighed and continued his rain and cloud watching. 

The rain was coming down even harder now, making big muddy puddles around the pitch. He was beginning to shiver also but he ignored it. He'd rather shiver out here than suffocate inside with the rest of the people eating lunch, though he knew he'd have to go back in soon. Hermione and Ron were sure to notice that he wasn't there. 

He closed his eyes again. He wanted to feel the rain again before he was to go back inside with all of the different, colorful emotions. He wanted to keep the rhythm of the rain with him, always. 

So he opened himself up to the rain. 

It was bliss.

He opened his eyes again, sometime later to a clearing sky, the sun peaking out behind some stray clouds that had stayed behind. The Rain had stopped, leaving a rainbow of bright emotion behind. Harry blinked; wondering why the rain had to go so soon but that thought was erased. He could still feel the liquid in his soul. He stood, sopping wet with a muddy back but with a bright happy smile on his face. He was one with the rain now. He felt like laughing joyously.

So he did.

It was a melodious sound that left his lips. It may not have been steady like the rain had always been but he wasn't a steady, static type of person, he couldn't be in his life. It didn't really matter to him as he walked back towards the school because if he concentrated enough, he could hear the rhythm of rain in his ears, he could smell it's fresh innocence, he could taste it's cool wetness.

Oh how he loved the rain.

A/N: I _sort_ of want to make this little thing (yeah it's short! But its a prologue!) Into something but I'd need reviews for that. I'd appreciate it too; this is my first Harry Potter fanfic. PLEASE review!

Naraelien Endiliste.


	2. Lady of the Lake

A/n: I decided to continue this. Explanations as to why are explained at the bottom. Don't mind its shortness, please. Excuse me for not doing responses. I've gotten lazy * nervous laughter * Enjoy!

Rain, Rain.

Chapter one. 

~0OO0~

Two day's after the best day in Harry's life, the young teen was sitting at the far end of the lake, facing the magnificent castle that was his home. He sat on the sandy beach of the gentle Lake; his legs tucked under him and his hands folded in his lap. He had been in this position for about an hour. It would have been called meditating but he was not. His emerald eyes were gazing out at the water searching its surface for any sign of what he was looking for. 

He didn't exactly know what he was suppose to be finding because he no real visual of it. He only had the feeling the presence of this object gave him in the dream he had. It was a sensational thing, this object was. It _must_ have been apart of the rain to make him feel so good. 

A sudden movement caught his attention in the middle of the lake. He stared intently at the spot where the ripples were appearing and gasped lightly as a raven-haired woman's head surfaced. Her skin was fair and her blue eye's were piercing. She smiled a little at him and an elegant hand motioned for him to come forth. Harry slowly stood and discarded all his clothing but his blue boxer's. Without removing his eyes from the woman, afraid she might disappear, he ran into the lake, and began swimming towards the person. It didn't take him long to reach her. She smiled gently at him, her blue eye's twinkling. He blushed a little when he noticed she was without clothing.

" Who are you?" He asked quietly and innocently. She didn't answer him and instead extended a closed fist towards him. He looked at in confusion before his eye's returned to her still smiling face. Slowly her hand opened and inside was a silver ring. In the middle was a tear shaped sapphire jewel. This was the object that gave him such a calm feeling and made his heart beat with excitement. There was also a name written in a fluid script. 

Rowena Ravenclaw. 

Harry gaped at her in shock, an unspoken question in his eyes. She giggled a little, like a child, and nodded. This person who emerged from the water was Rowena Ravenclaw? He found it odd that someone whose house symbol was a Raven and whose own name bared a Raven in it, would be a child of water, He mentally shrugged. Nature had strange ways of working. Harry, as if in a trance, suddenly raised his right hand up to her. She gently slid the ring onto his index finger where it proceeded to glow, blue, softly and emit a song of melodic harps and voices, flowing together like the water itself. He marveled at it until if finished it's song and he gazed back up at the woman to thank her but she was no where to be found. He looked around and around but did not see her. He finally looked down into the waters dark depth to see a soft light shining and the face of the smiling woman disappearing under the surface. 

" Goodbye Lady Ravenclaw." He said softly. He sighed and drifted around in the water for a while longer before remembering that the students would be back from their Hogsmeade trip in a while and dinner would be starting. He slowly swam back to the shore and before he could dress himself something emerged from the forest. 

He remembered reading in his Care of Magical Creatures book about something that looked like this thing. It was called a Hellhound. It resembled Hagrid's three-headed dog, fluffy only its six eye's were red and it was larger, _much_ larger. Harry had to crane his neck to look at it and didn't like what he saw. It was glaring at him, tendrils of smoke coming out of its nose as it growled viciously. Harry backed up slowly until he was ankle deep in the water. The hellhound didn't look like it was about to come after him. It only stood there, all three heads's growling. Then suddenly it cocked its heads back and they let out a stream of fire through their mouth1s. Harry, knowing he wouldn't be able to escape in time, covered his face with his arms in futile. Strangely, he wasn't the least bit afraid. He felt a wave of calm washing over him, soothing his heart. After a minute of waiting to be turned into a burnt crisp, he opened his eyes cautiously and then let his arms drop as he gaped in awe at the shield of pure, streaming water, blocking off the column of flames, pounding against it. 

For some reason the flames did not break through the water, they sizzled against the wall of water but didn't break through it. The beast finally stopped it's flaming and howled in anger at not being able to hurt the small being before him. The beast began to charge at him, not caring that the water would sting its paws. He wanted to kill the boy, maim him, and destroy his soul. Harry, realizing that _he_ was the one who must have put up the shield, thrust his hands out in front of him and prayed that the water would do his bidding.

' Don't fail me.' He thought desperately. Suddenly there was a great sound from behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see a great wave of water rise up, ominously looming over him and the now frightened hellhound. The water suddenly began to drop forward, over the two of them and soon they were encased in it, being pushed and pulled and tossed around like rag dolls in it. Harry couldn't do anything but try and stay alive. That and mentally smack himself for trying something he didn't know anything about. 

~o00o~

Harry groaned as he regained consciousness. He wearily opened his eyes and screamed, seeing the open red eyes of the hellhound. He scrambled away from the beast until he realized that it wasn't moving and stopped, breathing heavily with wide eyes. He looked around quickly, seeing that he was still at the lake only at another side of it. How that happened, he'd never know. His eye's returned to the hellhound. The beast was on its side, smoke coming from its mouth, it's three tongue's hanging out of its mouth. The beast was thoroughly dead and he was alive.

" Thank God." He breathed. 

" Harry?" Harry looked up guiltily into the shocked faces of Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape. He knew this had to be one of the strangest scenes they've ever stumbled upon. There sat a scarcely clothed Harry Potter along side a dead Hellhound, which seemed to have been drowned, judging by the lack of blood. 

" Hello Professors." He said meekly. Professor Dumbledore kneeled beside Harry and placed a hand on his shaking shoulder. He may love all forms of the cool liquid like it were a part of his mother but it still left him shivering. After all, he was only human and it was still October. 

" My boy, what happened?" The elderly wizard asked. Concern was etched all over his face.

" I was sitting by the lake and that," He pointed to the dead beast that Snape was inspecting. " Came stomping out of the woods. I--It . . ." He sighed when no words came to him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the professor exactly _how_ this happened. Would he even believe him if he said he commanded the water to attack the beast? Would he believe him if he said Lady Ravenclaw appeared from the lake?

" It's okay, Harry." The wizened old wizard patted him on the shoulder. " You can explain later. Right now I think we need to get you to the infirmary." He said, helping Harry to his feet. Snape was now standing in front of them and their eyes met. Harry was surprised to see understanding in Professor Snape's eyes. How could he possibly know what went on? " Severus, do you think you could lend Harry here, your cloak? Poppy would have my head if he were to catch Pneumonia." He said with a small smile. Snape wordlessly unclasped his black cloak and draped it over the shivering boy. " Come on, Harry." Dumbledore began to guide Harry towards the castle. Harry tried not to cry out, noticing that a lot of pressure on his right ankle hurt a lot.

" Headmaster?" Harry said, once they entered the school.

" Yes?" 

" What are you going to do about the Hellhound?" He asked.

" I'll have to get Hagrid to take care of it." He told the boy. 

" Oh." The rest of the journey was spent in silence. Harry noticed that Professor Snape was still with them and suspected that he wanted his cloak back after he made it to the infirmary. Harry sighed and wrapped the heavy cloak around him tighter. For some reason it gave him an overwhelming sense of being protected and he loved it. He was growing weary of always protecting everyone else. He discreetly inhaled the smell of his professor and immediately fell in love with the mixture of smells. It smelled of Mint, fire and various potion ingredients that didn't smell half-bad. 

Harry looked up to see his Snape eyeing him strangely and realized that he must have caught him sniffing his cloak. Harry blushed cutely and tried to drown himself in the overly large cloak. He couldn't believe he just did that.

~o00o~

Harry wasn't in the infirmary for long. Madame Pompfrey gave him a pepper-up potion incase he did get sick and healed his ankle. He was grateful and surprised to see that Snape had gone and gotten him some clothes from his trunk. Probably so he could get his cloak back. Harry silently pulled on his overly large jeans and gray sweatshirt. On anyone else the clothes would look just over sized and weird. On Harry, to a certain someone's observations, they made him look adorable and kittenish. They also made him look lost.

" Mr. Potter." Harry whipped around to see Professor Snape hovering a few feet away with an almost blank expression on his face.

" Yes, Professor Snape?" Harry said quietly.

" I would like to speak with you about what happened earlier." He said. Harry nodded slowly. " Put your shoes on and we'll go to my office." He finished softly.

" Yes, sir." 

After Harry put his shoes on he and Snape walked, silently, down to the dungeons. It was hard for a short person like him to keep up with someone as tall as Snape. He was nearly jogging to keep up with the long legs of his professor who showed no signs of slowing down for him. Once they reached the office, Snape told Harry to sit in the chair, situated in front of his desk. Snape let out a soft sigh as he sat down behind his desk.

" Potter . . .what _really_ happened?" Snape asked. Harry felt really uncomfortable under that intense stare that Snape put on him. It was different from the glares he sent him during potions class and it wasn't hostile. It was just piercing like he was trying to see into his mind by way of his eyes. Harry swallowed thickly. He could feel the impatience and curiosity rolling off of Snape like water rolls off of a duck's feathers. 

" You wouldn't believe me." Harry said meekly, looking into his lap. 

" And why wouldn't I believe you?" Snape inquired.

" You _never_ believe me." 

" Potter, you realize that most Slytherins' parents are Death Eaters." Snape said softly, folding his hands in his lap and leaning back in his leather chair. " What do you think would happen if word got around that I was nice to you?" He asked.

" I don't know." Harry said, looking up again. He had found out from an overheard conversation between the Headmaster and someone he didn't know about Snape being a death eater once, so none of this was new news. 

" You've known, since your first year here, that Voldemort is not truly dead." He started. " If he were to fully return to power, I will most likely have to return to his ranks as a spy." He told the boy. Harry paled slightly. He may dislike the bitter Potions professor but he didn't want him returning if Voldemort came back. " Every Slytherin has to believe that I am still Loyal to that mad man." He scowled. Not at the innocent boy before him but at the thought of the so-called man he had made the foolish mistake of joining. " I know that you'd be a decent potions student if it weren't for Draco and his little pack. I just choose not to acknowledge what they do." He explained.

" I understand, sir." Harry said. He was still reluctant to tell Snape anything but knew that the man wouldn't let him leave until he did. " Well . . .I was sitting by the lake, the other side, farthest from Hogwarts, waiting for something." He began. " See, I had this dream about an object. I couldn't ever see it but I could feel it and the feeling it gave off were . . .calming and powerful and it called to me. Then, while I was out there, this woman appeared in the lake."

" A mermaid?" Snape asked. Harry shook his head.

" I swam out to her. She, er wasn't clothed and she had feet and stuff." He said, blushing a little. " She gave me something. She never spoke. She just . . .anyway, When I got back to shore the hellhound came stomping out--"

" Wait, what did she give you?" Snape said, narrowing his eyes. " Who was this woman?"

" Um . . .she gave me a ring and . . .she was the Lady of the Lake, I guess." He said. 

" Don't be silly." Snape sneered. " The only Lady of the Lake Hogwarts has ever had was Rowena Ravenclaw."

" She was Lady Ravenclaw." Harry told him. " She gave me her ring. I don't know why she gave it to me but I'm glad she did. It kept me calm when the hellhound tried to kill me and helped me defeat it." He sad, looking at the twinkling ring on his finger. Snape looked vaguely surprised.

" How did it help you?"

" Well when the hellhound breathed fire at me a shield of water appeared and stopped it, though I don't know how. I figured that I must have done something to trigger it and the next time it tried to attack me I thrust my hands out in front of me and this giant wave of water came crashing over us." He said. " The next thing I know, I'm on the other side of the lake and the hellhound's dead. That's when you and Headmaster Dumbledore came." He fell silent and watched Snape's reaction.

" You shouldn't have been able to use that ring at all." Snape said quietly. His obsidian eyes were gazing at him with curiosity and concern. Harry couldn't understand why the man would be concerned about anything. Was the ring dangerous? It certainly didn't _feel _dangerous. Then again, in the wizarding world, not everything was, as it seemed.

" What do you mean?" Harry decided to ask. 

" Let me see Ravenclaw's ring." Snape ordered. He held out a hand. It was possibly the first time that Harry noticed a ring on Snape's finger. He could see several oval shaped rubies embedded into the gold band. Harry tried to remove the ring from his finger but it wouldn't budge.

" It won't come off, professor." He announced after several tries. 

" Come here." The professor said softly. Harry hesitantly stood before walking behind Snape's desk and extending his hand. Snape stood as well and grasped Harry's hand in his. Instead of trying to take to ring from his finger, he examined it on his hand. Harry watched in awe as the tear shaped sapphire started to glow slightly. He watched as Snape's own ring started to glow as well. " Potter, did anything happen in the past couple of days? Anything that would change you?" Snape asked. Harry paled. He definitely didn't want to tell Snape about _that_. It was personal for him, something of his own. 

" No." He said in a little voice. Snape glared. It was obvious that he knew he was lying. Snape's grip on his wrist tightened.

" Don't lie to me." Snape hissed. " What. Happened." He demanded. Harry flinched when Snape jerked him closer.

" I can't tell you!" Harry exclaimed. " You're not supposed to know." He said quieter. 

" Potter, it is _imperative _that you tell me!" Snape's voice was getting louder, almost to the point of yelling but not quite there. Harry flinched away again. His wrist was starting to burn and Snape's ring was glowing brighter, as was his. " Potter . . ." Snape growled, as he grew more impatient. He wasn't one to let his emotion's get so out of hand but this was so important, it could end in a lot of people's deaths, including his own and Potters. 

" P--professor, please stop." Harry begged, trying not to cry out. He could practically feel his skin start to burn. It was starting to smell . . .

" Shit." He usually didn't curse either but he wasn't aware of the bodily harm he was inflicting upon the boy. He quickly released the boy who backed away from him, clutching his injured wrist. He was looking at Snape in horror. " Po--Harry, I'm sorry." He sighed." I lost control; will you let me treat that for you? I shouldn't have done that." He said gently. Harry felt like cursing the greasy haired potion's professor and running from the room, screaming bloody murder but knew that wouldn't do any good. Besides, he felt that Snape was truly genuine about his feelings. Harry nodded. 

Snape sighed in relief and moved over to his Potions stock. He quickly found the potion he was looking for and headed back out to his office with it and some bandages. Harry was sitting in the chair in front of his desk again with his head down, clutching his injured wrist. Snape kneeled in front of him.

" Let me see." He said quietly. Harry blinked up at him before doing as he said. While Snape was administering the potion to treat his rather bad burns, Harry started to speak.

" Two days ago," He began. " I was outside in the rain. I've always loved it when it rained because it was so constant when it did. It was soothing. While I was out there I started thinking about certain things in my life and what I use to do when I was younger. I realized that I loved the rain so much that I wanted to be apart of it." Snape, who was reaching for the bandages, hesitated a bit. " I think I blacked out because the next thing I know it's not raining anymore. I woke up feeling better than I've ever felt before." Snape started to wrap his wrist. " I became one with the rain." He whispered. It was silent while Snape finished wrapping his wrist. When he was finished he silently stood to replace the bottle and the rest of the bandages. He came back and stood in front of Harry's chair, slightly leaning against it.

" Harry . . . do you know what that means?" He asked softly. Harry blinked once before shaking his head. A sneer started to form on the professor's face but he held it back. " It means you're a water elemental." Harry's eyes widened. He hadn't really thought of it like that.

" Really?" Sometimes, Snape wondered if Voldemort damaged the child's brain when he hit him with that curse, of course, he'd never say that out loud.

" Rowena's ring wouldn't have begun to glow if you weren't." Snape said. " This is why it is imperative that you are trained to control this." 

" But who's going to do that?" Harry wondered.

" I am the only one who would be able to since I am an elemental myself." Severus said. He held up the hand with the gold ring on it, it glowed briefly.

" You're a fire elemental." Harry stated. Snape nodded.

" This is Godric Gryffindor's ring." Snape told him. " There were two others but they were killed 14 years ago." He said quietly. " We are possibly the last, Potter. Will you allow me to train you?" Snape asked. It wouldn't do any good if Harry were to be uncooperative. The training would be a complete failure.

" Yes. I don't want to end up hurting anyone." Harry said.

" Good. You will reported back here every Wednesday and Saturday evening, do not be late and _don't_ tell anyone about this." Snape nearly hissed. Harry nodded frantically. " Go." Harry hurriedly left the room and hastily made his way back to the common room. It wasn't until he made it up to the Gryffindor's 4th year boy's dorm that he realized he was dead tired. Using the power must have taken a lot of energy from him. 

He yawned and kicked off his shoes before climbing into the warm bed. He didn't bother getting undressed since he was feeling a little cold in the first place and instead climbed under the covers and snuggled up in its warmth. Before he fell asleep, he realized that tomorrow was Wednesday and it would be his first Training session with Professor Snape.

A/n: okay, how was that? It wasn't long and I don't plan on making these chapters as long as my other stories. They may be longer than _this_ chapter but no where near as long as SKF or ADTP. Now, I'm purely writing this story to keep up my inspiration levels instead of starting other stories. I adore you reviewers who would want me to continue and update as fast as possible but that might not happen so I hope you'll be happy with me just updating when I can. I hope you liked it (even though it's not as good as the prologue) please REVIEW!! Oh and I was THINKING of making it a SS/HP thing sometime but I'm not sure. I'll probably make it a no pairing type thing since I'm not really happy with H/G or H/Hr and definitely not H/C * shudders * anyhoo please review and tell me what you think.


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